Why do kids test us?

I am really close to reaching my max on both frustration and stress. This year my goal was to enjoy my life more and I am far from that goal at the moment.

Evan is testing every ounce of patience I have and they are running pretty thin right now. He has been climbing out of his crib for a couple of weeks and it seems like it is getting worse than better. There were a few nights this week that he actually went to sleep shortly after we put him to bed, but the past two mornings he has been up at the crack of dawn….waking Alex up with him.
 

We have since removed the front of Evan's crib so he doesn't get hurt climbing out. We knew it wouldn't help the getting in and out of bed, but at least I don't have to worry about him slipping and cracking his head.

He doesn’t just climb out of his crib and do nothing of course, oh no….he gets into anything and everything he isn’t supposed to. He pulls everything off of the changing table which includes opening the wipes and pulling them out one by one and scattering them all over the room. That only happened once before I put them up high where he couldn't reach them. Sometimes he will pull items out of the closet, he will climb into Alex's crib and throw his stuffed animals out - or as I witnessed last night: He crawled in, took a stuff animal and when I came up to put him back in his crib, he chucked the animal back into Alex's crib. (Like he had committed a crime and was trying to cover it up!)

It is not just bed time that is the problem. Napping has also become an issue. He doesn’t stay in bed, he is constantly getting into trouble and it’s overly frustrating to me because that is my time to get things done and instead I am constantly having to go in and discipline him – none of which is doing any good. That is the most frustrating part; not listening. Evan completely ignores everything I say. It’s like I am talking to a wall. I feel physically and mentally exhausted – more so these past 2 weeks than the full 2 ½ years.

I don't understand why he only acts this way around Eric and I. He is fine when he is with either of his Grandmothers. He is the "perfect angel" in their eyes. He doesn't scream, yell, throw tantrums, he goes right to sleep for them, so then I ask myself "What am I doing wrong?"

I am sure I am not the only person in the world to go through this, but it feels like it when you are in it. You feel like no one understands what you are going though. I know I have said this before but parenting is so much more challenging than I ever thought it would be. I am trying to understand all of this and hoping and praying my children turn out ok. I don’t have a lot of faith right now though. I am hoping it gets better. It has to get better.